


Irreplaceable

by lovesickjily



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:52:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13523691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovesickjily/pseuds/lovesickjily
Summary: "We were all given assigned seats on our bus because shit went down too many times and now you’re my seat buddy and I don’t want the rest of the year to be awkward" au.





	Irreplaceable

It could have been worse.

With all the shenanigans that had gone on in that bus, the bus driver was bound to take action, except Lily Evans didn’t think that he would go as far as assigning seats to all fifty-one students that rode the bus.

She remembered everyone’s outrage at the news as if it was just yesterday, mostly because it _did_ indeed happen the day before.

“That is enough! From here on out you will _all_ be given assigned bus seats to ensure a peaceful and quiet environment. I’m sure you will all be thankful in the long run.”

“We’re not elementary- school kids,” Sirius Black had defended among the midst of other student complaints.

“From your behavior and mischief it’s hard to think otherwise,” snapped the driver, a woman with an undisguised disgust— and a lust for Sirius— towards the students, which Lily blamed on her childhood upbringing and lack of understanding for other people.

“It wasn’t even that bad,” Peter Pettigrew said.

“You’ve broken countless school rules!”

“Ah, but if we actually _did_ break school rules, wouldn’t Lily Evans be on our arses instead of you?” James Potter added, which offended Lily in his implication that she always stood by the rules, and also kind of hurt because she had a small crush on the boy who had indirectly called her a nerd. She waved it off though, because she knew James meant no harm in his words.

“Miss Evans is a model student who you should all follow examples of,” she replied, giving Lily a wide smile, which she weakly returned.

“Umbridge likes you. On a scale of one to ten, how much do you feel that this is an accomplishment?” her friend Marlene whispered to her.

“A solid three,” she said back, her eyes focusing on the small toad-like woman who was telling the group of students their new seats that would take effect in the afternoon.

She had been assigned the right seat of the ninth row with none other than James Potter, a messy-haired bespectacled boy who was really gorgeous and had an amazing arse. They had been put together because Lily was one of the only people who didn’t get off on annoying the bus driver, while James _loved_ pulling elaborate schemes with his mates, though he knew when to not cross the line. Lily guessed that the driver’s mindset was that placing a good student beside an irresponsible one would make the latter behave, and with Lily’s instance she supposed that it had some truth to it, though it was probably because James didn’t really seem to like her.

Like that one time they were paired up to do a group research project together on the Italian Renaissance, she had made up this scenario where they would create such an amazing project that the teacher would be showing off their creation to other classes, being that they were both at the top of their classes. In reality, however, James merely looked at her and asked, “Do you want to split up the project so that we each do half?” When Lily nodded her head in slight disappointment, he didn’t say anything else and walked away once they had decided on what parts they were to do.

Or a lot of times whenever their friend groups sat together at the lunch table, James would look anywhere but in Lily’s direction. Even if Lily was the focal point of everyone’s attention because she was talking, he would just stare at his food as if it was more interesting than whatever she was talking about.

Lily didn’t even do anything that could have made him not like her because they never even talked. Everyone always said that James was a great person to have a conversation with because you could joke around and talk to him about anything, which made sense because he was popular at their school and was the object of every girl’s affections including Lily. She always disputed that it was a small little crush to Mary and Marlene, but they were convinced that they were meant to be even though they had no scientific evidence to support their claim.

When the school bell signified the end of the day, she walked to the bus loading zone and spotted James in line talking to his mates. She tapped him on the shoulder, having to nearly stand on the tips of her toes to reach it, and he turned around in surprise. “Do you mind if I have the window seat?” she asked him without any form of greeting.

She could have had a much better approach than that, but Lily really had no idea what else she could have said to him. In the end, he just shrugged at her, “Sure, knock yourself out.” She smiled at him and climbed onto the bus, James following suit not too long after. She felt the seat sink down from his weight, their knees bumping into the other when he slid beside her into the seat. She adjusted herself, placing her bag on the ground so that he would have more space, but his legs were incredibly long, and there was no way he could comfortably fit his legs in the small area.

He smelled really nice and did not have the putrid smell of overly-sprayed cologne that boys at her school thought would make them irresistible to any girl but instead gave off the vibe that they were people you should never become acquainted with. Rather, James had a fresh smell, where it was obvious that he cared about his hygiene— and the noses of everyone— and he did not need some disgusting cologne to show it. He smelled like he came straight out of the shower, and Lily knew that if she got a more direct whiff of him she would no doubt smell the detergent on his shirt.

Obviously Lily pondered all of that while staring out the window, because it would have been weird if she just stared at him while relishing in his nice scent. She watched the scenery while trying not to pay any attention to the boy sitting beside her, but their close proximity allowed her to feel most of his movements, and she could see from her peripheral vision that he was texting somebody on his phone. After a while, though, she heard the click of his phone that signified that he had powered it off, and he sighed. “You know, if we’re going to be bus buddies for the rest of the year, I reckon we should actually have conversation.”

She turned to him in surprise, because clearly she had acknowledged that the most attractive boy at school— at least in Lily’s opinion— was to sit beside her for the rest of the school year, and she had been quick to assume that they would just do their own thing with minimal interactions. It had always been like that with James, but it seems that James actually wanted conversational engagement.

“All right,” she said finally, giving him a warm smile, “What do you want to talk about?”

“I dunno. Are we going for small talk or will we be having a deep, philosophical conversation about life and space and all that?”

“Small talk,” she replied, “Deep conversations happen at night most of the time.”

“Great. How’s the weather?”

Her eyebrows rose in amusement. “Cold. Very cold with frigid winds and the urge to throw oneself into a fire.”

“Ah, London. Why must you treat us with such abhorrent weather conditions?” he said, seemingly cursing the city.

“I don’t blame her. We give her so much air pollution and trash; it’s not wonder we don’t get any love from her.”

“Mm, so we’ve established that it is very cold during the winter season in London.”

“So there goes the typical weather question answered with the same old, same old. Next.”

“Come here often?” he asked, smirking at her, a quintessential part of James Potter that Lily found extremely hot. He didn’t even have to try to be charming.

“All the time, actually, but this is the first time I’ve sat in this seat before.”

“I could give you a tour of this _exotic_ seat. Now here’s the graffiti some berk scribbled on the bus seat,” James started, motioning towards the word “Cock” alongside a childish drawing of the part of anatomy, and Lily had to stifle a laugh, not because she found the vandalism, or at least what was being drawn, funny, but because James Potter was truly one of a kind, “ _I_ personally believe that people could be _much_ more original in their work. Oh, there’s the boring same old view of London that we get everyday. Here’s the— Later Moony!” At the very end he had gotten up to say goodbye to his friend, as the bus made its very first stop for Remus Lupin. Remus waved lazily back without turning around, and James sat back down, most likely from the glares from the bus driver. They fell back into a silence, but then a thought hit Lily.

“Why do you ride the bus?” she asked him curiously.

“Same reason as everyone else.”

“Yes, but you’ve got a car, don’t you?”

“I like the bus,” he said, leaning back as much as his legs allowed, “My mates ride it, and it saves me the effort from driving to school, plus it puts less gas into the air. As for going home after football practice, Mum picks me up ‘cause she comes home at that same time it ends.”

Lily thought it was cute that he felt no shame in his mother picking him up from school even though he was his final year at school, but then she reminded herself that he was a person and not a toy to be ogling.

Before Lily could respond to him, the bus— courtesy of the woman who hated everyone and everything in this world— gave a sudden lurch, and Lily was thrown right on top James’s lap, much to the surprise of both parties. She felt something hard digging into her, and her eyes widened as she quickly realized what it was. She scrambled off of him, apologizing frantically.

“Don’t be. You didn’t have any control over it,” he said, his face a decent shade of red and his voice strained.

“I know, but— God, it’s awfully embarrassing,” she replied, burying her face into her hands to hide the red on her face that matched her hair.

She really hoped that the rest of the year would go by quickly and without incidents like this again, but seeing as it was only the first day, that was only wishful thinking on Lily’s part.

* * *

 It was a dream come true.

The elaborate pranks that James and his mates had pulled off on the bus had initially just left the driver angry and everyone else in hysterics, but then it had turned to the driver giving everyone assigned seats.

Umbridge had finally snapped when a bucket of pink slime had drenched her from head to toe. James and his mates had worked out a plan where Remus had told her that the headmaster had wanted to speak to her about the very important subject of cats, which had gotten her attention once the word “cat” had left Remus’s lips. She practically ran out of the bus to go talk to Dumbledore, which gave the four boys leeway to set up their prank. Sirius strategically placed the bucket of disgusting pink slime that James had concocted in the science lab over the doorway with Peter on the lookout.

It made sense to make the slime pink because the bus was filled with all sorts of decorations that were the sickly color. James’s hatred of the color pink was solely due to the bus, though he would not object to the girl that he loved wearing it because it suited her quite nicely if he did say so himself.

The prank did not disappoint. Umbridge had emerged from the bus looking like a naked mole rat with the pink covering her from head to toe and her teeth sticking out quite grossly, and everyone laughed and took pictures of the woman.

It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve it. At one point she tried to issue a bunch of rules and decrees that she had even resorted to printing and attaching all around the bus, though she had no real power over making such rules. They weren’t even the usual rules one would find in a bus; rather, they were ridiculous statements, like that people were not allowed to bring magazines on the bus or to talk about politics, which made no sense whatsoever. Her bus wasn’t even _decorated_ like a it bus; it was more along the lines of a little girl’s tea party-themed birthday, what with these pink plates hanging from the front of the bus and these strange portraits of cats.

It was all fun and games when she opened her mouth and announced that they would have newly assigned seating arrangements.

It sucked that he couldn’t sit near his mates now; they were all scattered all over the bus. Remus and Peter had pretty decent seats, Remus at the fourth seat on the right and Peter at the twelfth seat on the left. Poor Sirius had the very first seat behind the driver, an old lady who never smiled, probably because he acted out the most out of James’s group, but it was also probable that he was seated there instead of James because the lady had eyes for him and wanted to see him whenever she looked into the rear-view mirror. James felt a little offended that the lady thought Sirius was better looking than he was, but he would rather not sit right behind her. At least Sirius had no one sitting beside him, but Umbridge probably didn’t want anyone getting in her way of ogling him.

Instead, James had the perfect seat next to an imperfectly perfect girl, the girl of his dreams, Lily Evans.

He could have always sat beside her, but he had a feeling that she didn’t like him, so he didn’t bother her.

Like that one time they were paired up to make a project about the Italian Renaissance. He had come up with this scenario that they would bond from the project and she’d fall in love with him, but then he started overthinking about how he was undeserving of love and affection, so he ended up quietly splitting the work with her to spare him of any embarrassment and any more heartache than he already had.

Or the many times where his mates would purposely sit with her and her friend group because they were sick of his inability to do anything about his feelings towards her, but he tried his best to not look in her direction because he really did not want to say or do anything that would make her weirded out by him. It’s not like she noticed his avoiding of her anyway.

Love was complicated.

He was pleasantly surprised to see her tap on his shoulder, but then he was disappointed when she only asked him if she could have the window seat. _You’ve already got my heart. You can take anything you want._ “Sure, knock yourself out.” She smiled at him, and suddenly the January cold disappeared into warmth, the birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and James’s hypothetical crops were growing. Lily Evans had a really powerful and beautiful smile.

He snapped out of his reverie when the driver had yelled to him, “Are you going to get on or what?” with much more venom than necessary. He muttered a quick apology and climbed onto the bus, spotting Lily in their designated seat. She quickly moved over to give him space, but it didn’t stop their knees and shoulders from touching the other, something that would keep him up at night while he did things his mother would not be proud to hear.

Her sweet perfume filled his nose as she shifted in her spot, and she turned to stare out the window as the bus started moving. He took to going through his phone to tone down the awkwardness, because he should have known that _this_ would be the reality of sitting next to his long-time crush on the bus.

**James Potter** to **the maraudgang** **™:** day 1 of new bus seats and lily smells so so nice

**Sirius Black:** shut up

**Remus Lupin:** Don’t be rude. You’re just saying that because you’re sitting behind Umbridge.

**Sirius Black:** she keeps looking at me through the mirror and licking her lips!

**Peter Pettigrew:** I thought you liked the attention ?

**Sirius Black:** not when it comes from gross old ladies i don’t

**Remus Lupin:** I guess you and Prongs had great luck in finding love on the bus.

**James Potter:** i’m not in love with evans

**Sirius Black:** uh okay and i’m in love with umbridge

**Sirius Black:** wait no

**Remus Lupin:** Got you.

**Sirius Black:** fuck you moony you set me up

**Peter Pettigrew:** I knew it

**James Potter:** guys this is so awkward between lily and me. helpppppppp

**Remus Lupin:** Then maybe you should, I don’t know, maybe talk to her instead of to us on your phone? It gives off the vibe that you’d rather be talking to us.

**James Potter:** remus this is serious

**Remus Lupin:** ???? I was being serious?????

**Sirius Black:** i think what moony was trying to say was to get your arse off your phone and tell the bird that you want to be in and out of her guts

**Peter Pettigrew:** Can you actually be in and out of somebody’s guts ?

**Remus Lupin:** No, it’s just an expression.

**Peter Pettigrew:** Yes I know but if their guts were laying around could you ?

**Remus Lupin:** That’s disgusting.

**James Potter:** guys i am not telling her that i want to be in and out of her guts

**Sirius Black:** we all know the truth

**Remus Lupin:** You know, if you never talk to her, you’ll never get that opportunity.

**Sirius Black:** moony knows wassup

**James Potter:** but talking is scary

**Sirius Black:** so is a lonely future

**James Potter:** jfc i hate when you’re right

**Sirius Black:** atta boy get some

At that point James put his phone away and sighed. He knew that his mates had a point, but he also knew that doing nothing about his crush on Lily would not allow him to get the happy ending that he wanted with her. He decided to risk it, because he was not going to spend the rest of his year on the bus with her in awkward silence. “You know, if we’re going to be bus buddies for the rest of the year, I reckon we should actually have conversation.”

She was surprised by his words, he could tell. If some loser randomly talked to him, he would have told him to get lost, so he had to give her props for her professionalism because he knew she was probably telling him to gain a sense of misdirection in her head.

Their conversation was actually really nice. Lily was just as witty and just generally amazing as James had expected she would be from his observations of her. He didn’t think it was considered stalking because he made observations about everyone he knew, and he _did_ have a taste for the finer things in life; growing up in a rich environment guaranteed that. He wasn’t even saying or doing anything stupid like he expected he would because at the end of the day, Lily was just as human as everyone else was, except she had a little bit of angel mixed in to her genes.

It was going really well too, but then stupid Umbridge decided that now would be a perfect time to perform one of her signature swerves. James recalled the countless times she took sharp turns solely because she got off on the screams of students. He remembered the many times where Peter, who always sat near the aisle back when they could sit wherever they pleased, fell into the aisle, a scene that never failed to make everyone who saw laugh.

And it would have been fine too if the turn didn’t make the love of his life fall into his lap, her bum— her nice, soft bum that he spent far too much time fantasizing about— right up on top of his manhood which hardened immediately at their accidental contact. He knew tonight he would _definitely_ get little sleep because he would be up doing other not-so-appropriate things. She scrambled off of him, much to his body’s disappointment, and apologized.

“Don’t be. You didn’t have any control over it,” he replied, wanting to add that he too did not have control over his bodily reactions, but that would have embarrassed her much more than she already was. Her face was red, and he could feel his cheeks burning up as well.

“I know, but— God, it’s awfully embarrassing.”

He couldn’t believe that at a time like this he could continue to think that she was really cute when she was flustered, which did not help that certain part of anatomy of his go down. He referred to the horrifyingly hilarious image of Umbridge covered in pink slime and looked at the woman driving the bus to make his erection go away, and these were one of the times that he was thankful that he had such a terrible woman as his bus driver, except he knew that this all stemmed from the lady even being the driver in the first place. See, if she was never driving the bus, everyone would be able to sit wherever they wanted, which meant that Lily would never have fallen into his lap and he’d never have gotten a boner at all.

The atmosphere was ruined now thanks to the gross woman— Umbridge, not Lily— , and Lily had taken to staring out the window. James really hoped that the bus would go faster even though he knew that they were almost at his stop. He pulled his phone again, hoping that something on it would relieve him of the traumatic incident that had just happened, though he knew that it would just make him feel worse because he had felt it buzzing since Lily had fallen onto him.

**Peter Pettigrew** to **the** **maraudgang** **™:** Attachment: 1 image

**Peter Pettigrew:** Rare image of James Potter engaging in illicit activity with Lily Evans

**Sirius Black:** this is why umbridge gave us assigned seats in the first place

**Remus Lupin:** Umbridge’s infamous bus swerves?

**Peter Pettigrew:** Looks like it

**Sirius Black:** evans looks so goddamn uncomfortable

**Sirius Black:** but then again she’s sitting on prong’s lap so if that was me i’d be uncomfortable too

**Peter Pettigrew:** You should have seen it first hand

**Peter Pettigrew:** When she felt his boner she got so red

**Sirius Black:** well if i felt how small it was i’d be embarrassed for him too

**Remus Lupin:** Cut him some slack.

**Remus Lupin:** Don’t act like you wouldn’t be embarrassed if someone fell onto your lap.

**Sirius Black:** well i wouldn’t be

**Sirius Black:** it’d be a privilege to have me fall on your lap

**Peter Pettigrew:** Now they’re awkwardly basking in the aftermath

**Peter Pettigrew:** Evans is staring out the window again and Prongs is trying to get rid of his boner

**Remus Lupin:** Why are you narrating it like a wildlife commentary?

**Peter Pettigrew:** I’m not

**Peter Pettigrew:** If I was I’d be saying it like this:

**Peter Pettigrew:** The young James Potter also known by its scientific name Stupidus Idiotius was unsuccessful in its attempt to woo the other gender and has taken to finding a means to end its life

**Remus Lupin:** That’s a bit too much

**Peter Pettigrew:** 3

**Peter Pettigrew:** 2

**Peter Pettigrew:** 1

**Peter Pettigrew:** And...

**James Potter:** kzfadskhjdskshafsackzCLsa

**Peter Pettigrew:** CALLED IT

**James Potter:** why is life so cruel?

**James Potter:** also how much do you think the cheapest flight to antarctica costs?

**Sirius Black:** why does it matter you’re rich dumbass

**James Potter:** the penguins will be very high maintenance and i wanna have as money as i can to care for them

**Remus Lupin:** It’s illegal to touch wildlife in Antarctica.

**James Potter:** okay but who’s gonna be there to enforce the law in antarctica?

**Peter Pettigrew:** Hey if you do go to Antarctica could you send a penguin my way ?

**Remus Lupin:** Prongs is not going to Antarctica.

**James Potter:** yes i am! the mortification that has come with this tragic event has ensured that my chances with lily are at a negative level now

**Sirius Black:** chill out she’s just a bird

**Peter Pettigrew:** Do you think she’s queen of the birds ? Like if Prongs actually went to Antarctica then would she just be on a throne while the penguins bring her fish and ice ?

**Remus Lupin:**?????

**James Potter:** pete i think you need help

**Peter Pettigrew:** So does your love life

* * *

To accidentally sit on a bloke’s lap— and not just any bloke, but the boy that one fancies— was horrifying to get over and forget. Of course, when Lily walked home from her bus stop, she could not stop thinking back to the incident. These kind of events left scars.

Lily had her fair share of boyfriends, but she had never gone as far as having sex with one, because she’d always imagined her first time with James, who, might she bring up, got a boner from her sitting on his lap. She didn’t even see it flattering in any form, as any teenage boy would get aroused if a girl sat on him, accidentally or not. She couldn’t understand how women enjoyed being on top, but then again, she supposed it would be much more different than falling onto someone’s lap.

When Lily had explained the situation to Marlene and Mary, they only gave her suggestive looks.

“You could’ve killed that poor guy,” Mary said.

Lily blinked. “What?”

“Don’t look so offended,” Marlene called out from the other side of the room, chewing on some chips, “She’s not saying you’re fat. You’ve got a killer body, and I’m sure James’s dick knew that.”

Lily scoffed in response, crossing her arms. “It was embarrassing.”

“Oh, we know,” Mary smirked, holding out her phone, “Peter showed us the picture.”

Her head snapped to the brunette. “What? He took a picture?”

“Yup,” she replied, popping the “p”, “I don’t know who’s more embarrassed.”

“You looked uncomfortable.”

“I was!”

“Did it feel big?”

“I’m not going to answer that.”

“That’s a yes,” Marlene said, Mary nodding in agreement. She walked over to where Lily was sitting on her bed and sat down beside her. “I don’t know why you refuse to wife him. That boy is a fine piece of ass, and he fancies you.”

“He does not.”

“And,” Marlene continued, ignoring Lily’s statement, “You two would have the most perfect children.”

“Oh, and they’d have fabulous hair,” Mary added.

“I’m not going to have children with James because you think we’d create the ideal children. Plus he doesn’t fancy me.”

“Yeah, you’d procreate because you’re in love with each other.”

“Please don’t say procreate. It makes us sound like wild animals. Also, for the umpteenth time, James doesn’t see me like that.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“I think if he fancied me—”

“Which he does,” Mary interrupted, and Lily rolled her eyes.

“He’d tell me that he does,” Lily finished, her heart aching slightly because she knew that there was truth in her words. There was no point in deluding herself into thinking that he held some sort of feelings towards her because she felt that way towards him. She didn’t want to be disappointed when he confirmed that he felt nothing towards her. Her friends noticed her sudden dismal disposition because soon they were comforting her with reassuring words.

“Hey, think of this bus situation as an opportunity to get to know the bloke you’ve been dreaming about. Who knows, maybe one day the bus will be the reason you two got together,” Marlene said, running her hand down the length of Lily’s arm soothingly.

“Yeah, don’t let one day discourage you,” Mary added helpfully.

“The year’s got 365—”

“366 on leap years—”

“ —And the year’s just started. We’re only five days into the year, and you have 360 more days.”

Lily only smiled in response at her friends’ attempts to cheer her up.

If only she had taken their advice to heart, at least immediately after they told her that.

* * *

The entire weekend passed by, and come Monday there was an awkward silence between James and Lily, both parties fearing that an incident would occur where Lily would fall into James’s lap again. James really wished that they could look past the event so that he could befriend Lily, as her birthday was coming up and he wanted to get her a gift.

Remus insisted that they didn’t have to be friends for him to get her something, but he thought it’d be weird if someone got him a present and he didn’t consider them a friend. Also he didn’t really know her interests, and it would be even weirder if he showed up with something like a teddy bear and it turned out that as a child she had a dream where she got chased by a giant teddy bear, which would in turn lead to her forever hating him for triggering that traumatic childhood memory.

James was plugging in his earbuds, ready for another afternoon spent in awkward silence with Lily and twenty-six minutes of Beyonce because she was great and never failed to miss the boyfriend he never had, though James could have easily related to the lyrics with his crush who didn’t reciprocate his feelings.

_To the left, to the left_ , the lyrics rang out in his ears, and it reminded him of how Lily did indeed slid to the left, to the left right onto James’s lap. James couldn’t really relate to this song because the only person who had ever moved into his house was Sirius, and he wasn’t going to get kicked out anytime soon or ever. Also, James could never think about replacing Sirius with anyone, and this was a _breakup_ song for heaven’s sake. James hoped he could never relate to this song because the only person he ever wanted to move in with romantically was Lily, and they’d be in a happy relationship with their fifty kids— or at least kid.

Honestly the song— _Irreplaceable—_ was such a bop that James was able to overlook the lyrics, and sometimes he got so passionate over singing Beyonce songs that he’d be singing along without even realizing. He felt eyes on him, so he turned to Lily, who was indeed looking at him with amusement. “Beyonce? Really?”

James took the earbud out of his right ear, which really said a lot because he didn’t even take his earbuds out when he talked to Sirius. “She’s iconic. One of the best, really.”

She tilted her head at him and gave him a pout. “Didn’t take you for a Beyonce fan.”

“Liking Beyonce is a prerequisite for being a decent human being.”

“Oh? And are you an exception to this rule?”

“Of course. I’m more than decent, but that’s only because my love for Beyonce is stronger than the love of others.”

She looked at him the way someone would watch a person deepthroat a whole sword, like it was strange but also kind of fascinating. James always wondered how people could shove a sword down their mouths without cutting themselves or choking themselves or both. He imagined that they would give the best head, but that was neither here nor there, and he would rather his throat stay intact and swordless.

“On another hand, are we good? You know, from the other day?” she asked him, and his eyes rose in surprise at the abrupt change.

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course. Like I said before, it’s not your fault. It was just really… sudden and yeah,” he finished lamely, not really sure what exactly to say on the matter that was not already unanimously agreed between the two. He didn’t want to talk about the boner he got, especially not with the girl who caused it.

He _especially_ did not want to discuss his nightly activity with her, because it was even more embarrassing. His mother had walked in on him too many times than she should have, and so she took away his wanking in bed privileges. If James didn’t agree to adhere to her rules, then she would have attached a picture of Jesus on his room ceiling so that if he continued to do it on the bed, he would just see Jesus’ disapproval. James didn’t even follow that religion, but he’d rather not be judged by the image of a heavenly figure. He had no other choice but to do it in the bathroom when he was showering or standing over the toilet, but it was uncomfortable to do it standing it. At least the clean-up was easier because his contents would just go down the drain. Sirius never failed to take the mickey out of him for losing his wanking privileges.

“It wasn’t—” she started, only to be cut off by Umbridge’s terrible turns— James really needed to give these turns a better name to emphasize the horridness of them— but this time James was prepared. Using the hand closest to her, James wrapped an arm around the redhead and grabbing her arm with the other to catch her, or at least to make sure they didn’t end up in a compromising position again.

“Thanks,” she smiled at him, the kind that people described in their songs, as he could see the sun from her skin— though that was probably due to the fact that the sun was indeed shining in through the window— and he could feel himself melting at their touch.

Not everyone was fortunate enough to survive this turn. Some poor kid fell into the aisle, and he was carrying a large tray of leftover cake, which he most likely brought because it was his birthday, that had splattered all over his face but did not leave a mark of frosting on the bus. This seemed to fuel Umbridge, as it was a known fact that she drew energy from the sorrows of the students who rode her bus. James and Lily’s incident must have left the woman with enough energy to last for a whole week.

“Poor bloke,” he said as all eyes were trained on the cake-covered boy.

“And on his birthday too,” Lily added sympathetically. James knew that Lily genuinely felt bad for him because she was Lily and she was the sweetest— no pun intended— person in the world. He would have snapped a picture of the bloke, but he was too far up in the front to get a clear shot.

They sat in a small bout of silence, Beyonce’s _7/11_ playing in his left ear, which wasn’t really appropriate for the situation but still a bop nonetheless, until James blurted out, “Did you, by any chance, have a traumatizing experience with teddy bears as a child?”

Her perfectly plucked eyebrows rose in surprise, and then she scrunched them together in confusion. “No, not that I know of. Why?”

“I was just wondering.”

“You were wondering about _that_?”

“My brain functions weirdly.”

“Yes, I can tell.”

“You know, technically my brain said that it was weird because, y’ know, it’s in charge of our thought processes.”

She looked at him in amusement. “Your brain is pretty insecure about itself.”

“I know,” he said, tapping his head, “I keep telling it that there’s no need to be insecure when it belongs to me of all people. It should be honored.”

“Are you sure you didn’t have a brain transplant as a child?”

“Are _you_ sure you didn’t have a traumatic teddy bear incident as a child?” he retorted.

“In what circumstance would I ever have been traumatized by a teddy bear?”

“I dunno, you tell me.”

“Well I would, but I haven’t exactly had a terrible experience with a teddy bear.”

“Are you _opposed_ to teddy bears?”

“No, they’re absolutely adorable. Why are we talking about teddy bears?”

“Why not?”

“Is this your stop?” she asked, which confused James, because it had nothing to do with their conversation.

“What are you— Oh, shit.” James noticed the bus stop and Sirius stood up, and he scrambled to the front of the bus, nearly forgetting his bag on the way. He had been left behind before, most likely intentionally because it was Umbridge, and he did _not_ want that to happen again. On the other hand, that meant he got to spend more time with Lily, but then again, they had the rest of the year together, and once Lily left her stop, he would have been stuck with Umbridge. “See you, Lily,” he called back, nearly yelled actually.

“Bye!” she replied, and he one last glance behind his back to see her flashing him another one of her song-inspired songs. His heart skipped a beat at the beauty that was Lily Evans.

When he got to Umbridge, he swung his bag around his back quite dramatically, which promptly hit the woman square in the face, who squealed in response. “Oh, my mistake,” he said insincerely, before stepping out of the bus to catch up with Sirius, who had been waiting for him with a smirk on his face.

He considered this bus ride a success and progress towards being Lily’s boyfriend, or at least closer to being close to her. He also knew what to get her for Valentines’ Day, but what to get her for her birthday was still a mystery that James hoped he could figure out before January 30th.

The next two weeks Lily found her feelings for the messy-haired, bespectacled boy growing deeper as they got to know one another more. Each day in the afternoon she would always tell him about her day, and he actually paid attention to her words and listened intently, even though most boys she talked to about her day seemed to absentmindedly nod and agree to her words, a cue that signified that they didn’t really care. James, on the other hand, seemed actually interested in her life. In the mornings, he let her nap on his shoulder, which was really comfortable to lay on, and then he’d wake up her gently when they arrived at school.

He was so easy to talk to, and she found herself spilling details about her childhood to him— a childhood that did _not_ include devious teddy bears, though James was insistent that she might have had a dream that she’d forgotten concerning the stuffed animal.

“I think if I had a dream about teddy bears, it’d leave a scar.”

“Scars fade away after time,” he pointed out.

“Why do you always have the need to bring up teddy bears? Did _you_ have a traumatic teddy bear-filled childhood?”

“No, not teddy bears. Just endless hours of ballroom dancing and books about philosophical ideas,” he said with a shudder.

“Oh, so just the typical rich boy childhood?”

“More or less,” he said, leaning back so that his head was resting on top of the bus seat, “That’s enough about me. Tell me about your childhood.”

“What do you want to know?”

He shrugged. “Anything.”

“Well... my family and I always visited this cottage near East Sussex during the winter hols. It was absolutely beautiful during that time, but we stopped when,” she paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, “When my dad died. It’s not the same without him, and I still love the holidays, of course I do— It’s like paying a tribute to him because it wouldn’t be fair if I sat around gloomily. I know he wouldn’t have wanted that, but we haven’t gone back since.”

She had been looking down at her fidgeting hands in her lap rather than James when saying all of that, because she had never confided in anyone other than Mary and Marlene about her life. She looked up at him slowly to see if he would be judging her because she said something far too personal in comparison to James’s small description of his childhood. Instead of seeing revulsion, she saw a faint smile on his face.

“Thanks for telling me all of that. I know things must have been hard for you, and the fact that you willingly said that when you didn’t have to really says something.” He wrapped an arm around her— an action that sent her heart fluttering at such an intimate yet innocent gesture— as an attempt to hug her, as he could not really do that on a moving vehicle. He let go of her too soon, she thought.

“I suppose that I miss it, and I’d really like to go back, but there’s really no point on dwelling on missing it when I could just think back to the happy memories I made there.”

“It’s crazy, life is.”

“How so?” she asked, turning her head to him and having to look up because he was so tall.

“Childhood was so long ago, and soon we’re gonna be adults— you’re legally an adult next week and—”

“You remember my birthday?” she asked him in surprise, as they had never really interacted before the bus situation, and it came as a shock that he actually knew her birthday. She felt a little ashamed that she didn’t know _his_ birthday, only that it was in March.

If Lily was seeing it properly, she noted a small tint of pink on his cheeks. “I’m good at birthdays.”

“Are you really?”  

“That’s what I said.”

“Name the birthday of someone not in your immediate friend group.”

“Cake Boy’s birthday is January 8th.”

“He doesn’t count.”

“He’s not in my friend group.”

“Yes, but you only remember his birthday because he brought cake on his birthday only to get it all over his face.”

“And what a birthday he’ll never forget,” he sighed, as if he was recounting a genuine happy memory.

“He was embarrassed beyond repair, James. How would you like it if it happened on your birthday?”

“I’d embrace it,” he beamed, “Plus it’d never happen ‘cause my mates and I would finish the whole hypothetical cake at school.”

She rolled her eyes at him, fighting off the smile forming on her face but failing. “You’re ridiculous.”

He chuckled. “Name a birthday of someone who’s not my best friend… Hmm,” he started, pretending to think really hard, “James Potter’s birthday is March 27th.”

“I heard James Potter was a prat. He doesn’t count.”

“Really? I heard that he was a sex god.”

“James Potter got an erection when a girl accidentally fell onto his lap.”

“You got me there,” he laughed, “Though I could name any person and make up a birthday because the chances of you knowing their birthday borders zero percent.”

“So you’re admitting that you’re actually not good with birthdays?”

“Oh, no. I’m amazing with birthdays. Bloke in front of us’s birthday is September 1st, and the girl beside him’s birthday is July 8.”

She looked at him cynically, because there was no way he knew their birthdays just like that. She tapped on them and asked for their birthdays, which surprised her when they had both answered with the dates that James had said. “How did you—”

“I’m amazing with birthdays. I can’t believe you doubted me.”

Lily really didn’t want James to go just yet, as the bus had made it to his stop at the gate of his neighbourhood, but she knew that there was no point in stopping him. They said their goodbyes, and she watched him walk home through the bus window until he was no longer in her sight.

* * *

 James really thought that he was going somewhere with Lily. Every afternoon she’d tell him about her day, and he found it adorable when she gushed about how much she enjoyed a class or got passionate about something most people found trivial. He really liked her telling him these things because it made him feel as if he was actually important in her life.

Many mornings she would lay on his shoulder and nap, something he did not mind because her hair smelled really nice, and her mere presence made him happy. Her company was so pleasant that he rarely went on his phone anymore except to listen to music.

This morning, however, she rested her head on his shoulder for completely different reasons. When she stepped on the bus, he had moved aside to give her space, but paused when he noticed her tear-streaked face. Her face was devoid of any makeup, and most people would not have even noticed because her hair was covering it up, but because she sat beside him, he noticed the lack of her sunny disposition.

“Hey. Are you all right?” he asked with concern, his heart hurting simply because the girl he loved was sad. She turned to him, and he felt his heart break into a million pieces. He ran his hand through his hair. “Stupid question. Of course you’re upset, but it’s not my business to know what’s going on in your life. I— Just know that I’m here for you, Lily. You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to. And you can cry on my shoulder if you want.”

She gave him a weak smile. “Thank you,” she said quietly, resting her head on him. Her sobs were muffled against his sleeve as she let her tears stream freely down her face, and James so desperately wished that he could do something to make her better because he hated to see her this way. They sat like this for a while, but soon her sobs subsided to just sniffles, and she moved her head off of his shoulder. He watched her wipe her face with the sleeve of her jacket, and despite the disarray evident on her face, James thought she was absolutely gorgeous.

And even though he had assured her that she didn’t have to say anything if she didn’t want to, she told him everything anyway.

“I’ve been able to hold in my feelings for a while, but I guess this morning I just _snapped._ My sister’s got a boyfriend for a while now, and she’s always discussing how she’s going to cut off all contact with my mum and I once she gets married to him. WIth my dad being gone now, I don’t want to lose the rest of my family, but when I told her how I felt about the situation, she yelled at me for not understanding her, but I _do_ understand, because all I want is our family to be happy again. I mean, isn’t tragedy supposed to bring people together? Mum seems to support her decision because she wants the best for her, but I know that she’s hurting on the inside. And— I’m sorry, James. I know you don’t want to hear any of this.”

James’s eyes softened. “Why would I not want to hear about your problems? I care for your wellbeing, Lily. As for your sister, I don’t know everything that’s gone in both of your lives, but you’re siblings. She would never leave you, not when she cares too much for you.”

“You don’t know her,” she said, “She usually acts on her words.”

“I know that she would never leave the only family she’s got left. It gets better, Lily, and I know people say that a lot, but time will heal things,” he paused, then, “Sorry. I’m not the best at offering support, but—”

“No, no, thank you. You always know what to say,” she smiled at him once more, and her face wasn’t as red as it was before.

James was feeling confident in himself at that time— with Lily telling him something so personal which told him that she held at least _some_ trust in him— and he reached over to give her a small kiss on the forehead. He hoped that it gave off the message that he genuinely did care for her, that his words weren’t simply intended to make her feel better, but that he wanted her to know that he would be there for her when she needed him. He felt proud of himself that he had managed to make her cheeks redden, though it could have already been red from earlier, but he’d like to think that he had succeeded in getting her to blush.

And when it was later in the afternoon, Lily was in a much better mood than she was in the morning, though she had not completely gotten over the events from that morning, so he let her nap on his shoulder.

“I can hear your music,” she murmured, and he almost missed what she was saying because his music was _indeed_ playing too loudly in his ears.

“I want everyone to know about my love for Beyonce,” he replied, though he turned it down so that she rested peacefully on him. If that didn’t show how much he loved her, he didn’t know what did.

After weeks of contemplating what to get Lily for her birthday, James had found the perfect gift for her, and just in opportune time too.

Sirius had suggested that James give her his body, but that was too suggestive, and plus it sounded more like he wanted to be her slave rather than her lover, and James was strictly opposed to slavery.

Peter told her to buy her additional packs for the game Fortnite, but James had a feeling that was what _Peter_ wanted, and Lily didn’t seem like the kind of person to play video games. He made a small note to buy the packs for Peter on his birthday if he didn’t get them by that time.

Remus told him that James should come up with what to get for Lily himself because it wouldn’t be as genuine and from his heart as it could have been if he just took someone else’s advice. Sometimes James hated Remus’s wisdom, and in this case it was a love-hate relationship. On one hand, he still had no idea what the hell he should get for Lily, but he supposed it was better than insincerely running to the store and buying some random piece of makeup that didn’t even suit Lily’s skin tone.

James had considered asking his mother, but she probably would have spewed some nonsensical piece of wisdom like Remus, probably telling him to follow his heart and instincts rather than the advice of someone else who didn’t even know Lily that well.

A lot of nights James had traded in his nightly wanking sessions to lie in bed— with his private bits covered by shorts— to devote extensive time to refer back to their previous conversations to find some inspiration for a gift.

He remembered that the very first thing he recalled from their experiences the first time he’d just laid in bed staring up at the ceiling was when she had fallen into his lap, which felt like such a long time ago but in actuality was only a few weeks ago. He was _not_ giving her anything relating to that sort, at least not yet.

He remembered that same day they were talking about the cold weather, but James didn’t think that handing her a bag of snow would go well, especially when it most likely would have melted by the time she received it. If he could change the weather, however, he would have done it in a heartbeat to get it to fit her tastes.

He was saving a teddy bear for Valentines’ Day, assuming that by that time they would be dating and in love, so that was out of the question. He wanted to get her the biggest teddy bear he could possibly find, but how he could fit it on the bus was a problem for another day, or maybe he could get her one of those bears with the small heads and giant bodies. Maybe he could even get her both. She deserved the best.

It wasn’t until one night when he had almost given up for the time being for a quick wank— he was a teenage boy; he had _needs_ and it had been so long since he had last done it— when he suddenly remembered a conversation about her childhood.

That’s when it all came into place, because it was so obvious what Lily needed with everything that was going on in her life. James rushed over to his computer to order everything he needed for her gift, and now his thinking time was turned into time devoted to creating the perfect gift for Lily.

* * *

 18 felt the same as every other day.

Lily didn’t feel any different than she was the day before, and she didn’t wake up to birthday balloons and streamers and a large chorus of “Happy birthday” from her family like the girls did in the movies. She did, however, see her phone being blown up with a bunch of birthday wishes from Mary and Marlene, who had both texted her at exactly midnight. They had offered to stay up until that time for Lily’s birthday countdown, but she thought that was unnecessary because they would have told her happy birthday later that day anyway.

When Lily walked downstairs into the kitchen, her mother and Petunia wished her happy birthday, and she thanked them in return. They ate their pancakes in quietness, Petunia eating quite briskly as if that would just speed up time. If that actually worked, Lily would have chewed down her food as fast as she possibly could.

She wasn’t disappointed, no, because that was an everyday occurrence. The house would be silent for a few days after a fight or disagreement, but eventually it would become livelier once again until another argument broke out, and then the cycle would continue again.

Lily wondered if everything would have been different if her father was still alive, but then again, there was no point in that sort of thinking if nothing could be done about the past.

She bid her family goodbye as she gathered her items— Petunia waving her off and her mother offering her a small smile— and walked toward her stop. If she was being honest, the thing that she was looking forward to most was James Potter, the boy who had been making her heart skip so many beats that it would have beat the record of most skips a stone had ever done across a body of water. He was so sweet, and he never failed to make her laugh or to brighten her day.

When the bus arrived, Lily all but raced up the bus steps, and her eyes landed on the raven-haired boy, who beamed at her from their seat. “Happy birthday, Lily,” he said, before standing up to conduct the group of students who were usually sleeping or staring at a fixed object out of sheer tiredness, but today they seemed focused on singing happy birthday to Lily. Umbridge tried to tell James to sit down, but her shouts were overpowered by the loud, off-key singing of the students on the bus.

“That was unnecessary,” Lily told James when they had finished singing, though she was flattered by their chorus nonetheless.

“It was _completely_ necessary,” he defended, “I got you a present by the way.”

Lily’s eyes darted to his empty lap. “That’s sweet of you,” she said sarcastically.

“Oh, about that,” he started nervously, reaching his hand behind his head to scratch his neck awkwardly, “I overslept today and in the rush I forgot your present. I swear I’ll get it to you today.”

“Really? How?”

“You could come over today to get it?”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“See, I was wondering if you would be okay with that.”

“I mean, I suppose. Sure. Yeah, yeah,” she stammered.

“Great,” he smiled at her once again, and he pressed a kiss to her cheek, which did not fail to make her cheeks turn pink. He was doing that a lot now, as if he didn’t realize that it just made her confused about his feelings towards her and giving her false hope about a future relationship with him. “So how’s 18 for you so far?”

She shrugged at him. “Not too different from 17.”

“Ah, but now you can legally drink.”

“Oh, right. I’ll get to that as soon as school lets out.”

He pouted at her, and he looked really cute with his lower lip jutting out like that. “Without me?”

“I’ll be sure to smuggle you some,” she assured him, patting him on the arm.

“I knew there was a reason I kept you around,” he joked, reaching down to grab his bag with one hand, the other holding on to her present, as the bus neared the school entrance. She would have picked up her own bag, but he beat her to it and handed her bag to her.

The day passed by rather quickly for Lily. Marlene had gotten her a pretty green sweater and some earrings, while Mary got her an assortment of beauty products such as face masks and lotion despite Lily’s insistence that they did not have to get her anything.

However, throughout the day her mind kept wandering to what James had gotten her that was so important that she had to come over to his house to see what it was when he could have brought it to her the next day at school. She briefly considered how likely it was for the gift to be a teddy bear, what with the many times he had asked her about the strange topic. Then again, he was convinced that a teddy bear had plague her childhood, so he wouldn’t deliberately give her something that he thought would trigger her supposed fear of it. He was just too sweet to do that to her.

When the afternoon rolled by, James plopped down beside her on the bus seat. “Hey. Ready for Casa de Potter?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“You _always_ have a choice,” he responded with a smirk. “I skived off football practice for you.”

“Good to know you have your priorities straightened out.”

“Nah. My priorities are fucked up.”

“So’s your hair.”

“My hair is the best, thank you very much.”

“Is it? I’m fairly certain I can see a family of birds in there,” she said, peering at his messy locks as if she was eyeing the feathered animals.

“Then it just goes to show how generous I am to provide shelter to a family in need,” he replied, and she snorted at him.

“A family of louse, maybe.”

“Though we established it was birds.”

“The birds need dinner as well,” she retorted, which did not fail to draw a laugh out of him. She felt a surge of pride in her success at getting him to laugh, which was a beautiful sound.

“Mum’s gonna love you if she hasn’t already,” James said, changing the topic completely. Lily’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I’ve never met her,” she pointed out.

“Yeah, but— Nevermind.”

“What is it?”

“Oi, you in the mood for Beyonce?”

Lily knew he was now deliberately deviating from the topic now, and she didn’t see the reason as to why he would even mention something and then not elaborate, but she didn’t want to say anything about the matter if he did not want to explain himself. She nodded at him. “Suppose so.”

“Great.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed her an earbud. Soon, _If I Were a Boy_ was blaring in her ears, and James seemed to be in his own little world as he sang along to the lyrics. He certainly wasn’t the best singer, but Lily found herself listening more to his voice than the actual song because there was something so harmonious about him.

They sat like that for the rest of the ride, and when the bus stopped in front of the fancy gated neighbourhood, James got up, with Lily behind him.

“Excuse me, Miss Evans. You are not authorized to leave this bus if it is not your designated stop,” Umbridge started, and Lily had almost forgotten how much of a nuisance the woman was.

“Oh. Right,” Lily replied, and Umbridge let out a small humpf of triumph, that was, until Lily continued her way out of the bus. The woman was quick on her reflexes, however, and pulled on the handle that closed the bus doors. James and Sirius had managed to get out of the bus, and Umbridge probably would have continued on her route had it not been for James, who was standing casually in front of the bus. As much as a horrible person Umbridge was, she would not run over a student, especially not the son of the president of the city council. While Umbridge was busy honking the horn at him as a feeble attempt to get him to move out of the way, Lily quickly pushed on the handle to let her out of the horrid bus, and she ran out before Umbridge could close the door on her again.

James was now safely out of the way, and Lily walked over to him. Together they continued their trip to James’s house with Sirius far ahead of them.

Lily knew she shouldn’t have been surprised to see that he lived in probably the biggest house on the street and possibly even the neighbourhood, what with the many times he had described his childhood and home, but just the sight of it gave her so many questions.

“I know, it’s big, but you can gawk inside. Don’t want you getting a cold on my accord,” James said when he noticed her staring, and he led her inside. Once Lily had gotten over the initial shock of the grandeur of his home, he showed her his room, most likely because that was where his present for her was.

James’s room had somehow captured his entire essence. One shelf contained possibly all of the awards and medals he had ever gotten in his life, as one particularly large medal dated back to when he was eight, his achievement of winning first place in the spelling bee that he had participated in. He had clothes in a rather massive pile in one corner and a bunch of other clutter thrown around the floor. Lily was not at all surprised to see a poster of Beyonce on the wall opposite from his bed and a bunch of science posters beside it. His dresser had a bunch of framed pictures of James and his friends and family, and next to it was a perfectly wrapped box.

She set her stuff down beside his dresser and spun around once she saw that he was heading towards her through his mirror. “That’s for you, if you didn’t notice your name written illegibly on it,” he said, motioning towards the box.

She tentatively took the box in her hand and removed the lid. She reached her hand in, and she pulled out the most beautiful snowglobe she had ever seen in her life. Inside was almost a perfect replica of the cottage she used to visit with her family during Christmas, and she felt tears well up in her eyes at how thoughtful a gift he had gotten for her.

“You don’t like it,” he sighed, taking her tears for sadness instead of happiness. “It’s just, I know you love the winter and your family with all of your heart, but I dunno why I bothered. Of course you—”

“No, James. I love it,” she said, her lips curling up at the corners, and noting his skepticism, “Really. It’s the sweetest thing someone’s ever gotten me.” She shook it so that the snow inside drifted down onto the pleasant scene within, and upon closer examination she noticed that the base of the globe had an engraving on it that said _To Lily. Love, James._

And the small simple words gave Lily the courage to act on the many scenarios she had conjured up in her head, and placing the snow globe down gently down, she turned to James, who had been closely watching her reaction. He looked at her curiously, and she stepped forward to press her lips against him.

Those sparks she felt whenever they had accidentally brushed shoulders— or generally just any body parts really— were intensified as electricity coursing through her veins as she kissed him.

His music, which had been playing loudly since he got home, added to the atmosphere in their room, and Beyonce’s _1+1_ seemed to suit the occasion perfectly. It felt like a scene ripped out of a cliche romance movie, because James’s kissing style was the way she had always dreamed it would be like, maybe even better. He cupped her face gently as if she was to be treated with the utmost care, and she felt him smile against her lips. It had only prompted her to do the same, and soon they were laughing at one another. “What’s so funny?” he asked once the laughter had done enough to pull them away, though his face was still close to hers.

“I think _that_ was the best thing I’ve ever gotten for my birthday,” she answered, finding it difficult to wipe the smile off her face.

He groaned and slapped the side of his pants quite dramatically. “Don’t say that! I spent _much_ more time on your present than I should have. I am _very_ offended.”

“Is there anything I can do to gain your forgiveness?”

“You can appreciate your new snow globe more.”

“Oh, come off it. You know it’s an ego boost for you to hear that kissing you was the best present I’ve ever received,” she responded, and he chuckled.

“Right you are,” he said, and he kissed her again.

* * *

 Sirius at least had the decency to not disturb James and Lily when it was apparent that they were doing _much_ more than opening Lily’s present, though it hadn’t stopped James’s mother from walking in on her baby boy— who was very shirtless— on top of the girl he had been harboring feelings for years. At first it seemed that she had a lot of mixed feelings about the scenario unfolding in front of her— 17 years and ten months had rather acquainted mother and son— and while he knew that she was happy that he had finally gotten _there_ with the girl he loved, as a mother she still felt protective towards him.

James had feared that she would take away his sex in bed privileges, but then he remembered that he never had those privileges in the first place because he had actually never gotten that far with anyone just yet. Also, his mother must have known that people his age were bound to do it sometime soon, and she was strictly for the use of protection to prevent any unwanted consequences.

In James’s defense, Lily’s shirt had come unbuttoned on its own accord, though he would forever cherish the sight of what was underneath. Needless to say, he didn’t fool anyone with his horrible cover-up story, though he did amuse everyone in the house including Sirius, who he could hear doubling over with laughter from the room beside his. Besides, James was a gentleman. He wouldn’t have sex with anyone before going on a first date.

The incident hadn’t left a gap between the couple; rather, it seemed to bring the two together, physically and emotionally. Though they hadn’t actually discussed their feelings in depth with one another after Lily got her present, both parties unanimously agreed that that was the day they began dating. He could finally wrap his arm around her on the bus now, which was a little awkward before because he would always have the strong urge to put an arm her whenever she laid on his shoulder.

He remembered Umbridge noticing their small display of affection when he had started doing that, and she was very adamant on him to get his arm off of her, despite his many protests.

“She’s my _girlfriend_. I’m sorry you’ve never been involved with anyone romantically before, so you can’t really understand.”

“That is an infringement of other people’s spaces!”

“Shouldn’t you be driving all these students home?” he asked, gesturing to all the students who were aggravated that she had stopped for such a petty action.

“Get your arms off of her.”

“I’ve got only one arm around her.”

“James?” Lily had interrupted, lifting her pretty head off of his shoulder as she stirred awake from her nap.

“I’ve got it all under control, Lils,” he said, kissing her forehead before directing his gaze back to the toad of a woman, “I hate to use this card, but I hope you know that my mother is the president of the city council, which, might I remind you, is in charge of all school systems and incidentally all of their buses. I could easily have a word with her about you, and soon you’ll be living on the streets with all of your sickeningly pink decorative plates.”

James could see the fire in the woman’s eyes quickly burn out at his words, and her eye twitched before returning to driving again. He felt another victory at hand and was fairly happy of how his life was turning out.

What Lily didn’t know was that he had spent his entire night working on perfecting her birthday present, and consequently went to bed at 3 in the morning, so who could blame him for oversleeping and nearly missing the bus?

Coming home with Lily after school was starting to become a weekly thing, and with Valentine's’ Day growing closer, he knew _exactly_ what to get for his sweet girlfriend.

James had a feeling that Lily would love a singing teddy bear for that day of romance, and if she didn’t, well, he also planned a nice romantic dinner, but who wouldn’t want a bear that sang Beyonce songs? If James was a girl, he’d been swooning over the romantic gift he’d gotten himself.

But now wasn’t the time to be worrying about a gift he knew Lily would love. James had better things to do with his life— like bopping to Beyonce and bouncing from the bumps that the bus hit, which James supposed he owed it all to.

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh I feel so accomplished that I finished on my girl's birthday wooo


End file.
